Tradition
by frances janvier
Summary: He shouldn't. He shouldn't. He shouldn't. But he does. /regulusevan for sarah


**This was written for Sarah (scrumptiousinternetllama) in the OTP Swap. Her OTP was Regulus/Evan.**

 **Sorry for the extreme lateness, but I hope you enjoy! xx**

 **Music History:** Option 2: Write about how the parents of a character have influenced that character's life.

* * *

Regulus shouldn't have been as surprised as he was when he was sorted into Slytherin.

He was a Black, after all, and every pureblood born into the Black family is a Slytherin, no matter what. His brother, Sirius— _not a brother, just a disgrace,_ Mother told him—had been sorted into Gryffindor— _the house of Mudbloods and other idiots with filthy blood_ —and their parents had disowned him.

Maybe he'd thought that the two of them were different from the rest. Maybe he'd thought that he and Sirius would be the brothers to break away from the standard of the Black family.

But things had proceeded as his mother had hoped, and Regulus was just another pureblood Black in Slytherin.

The sorting hat yelled out "SLYTHERIN!" a minute after being placed on Regulus's head. The Slytherin table cheered loudly and enthusiastically for their new member, but it didn't fully cover up all the whispering that took place at the other tables in the Great Hall. He sat down towards the middle of the table, shaking hands and saying hello to people's names who he wouldn't remember for a long time.

From reflex, Regulus scanned the other house tables and mentally took note of who was a pureblood, and who was a half-blood, and who was a muggle-born— _no, call them Mudbloods, Regulus, you're so weak. You'll turn out just like your brother, Regulus, and you don't want to disappoint Mother, right, Regulus?_

By the time Regulus shook the thoughts out of his head, the line of kids had progressed to the 'R's.

"Rosier, Evan!"

A tall, moderately skinny boy with dark hair practically strutted up to the Sorting Hat. He jutted his chin out, and just seconds after he had placed the hat on his head, it yelled out, "SLYTHERIN!"

Regulus applauded politely but kept his eyes trained on Rosier's face, studying it and studying it and studying it.

* * *

One chilly October evening, Regulus was quietly doing his Potions homework in the common room. There were a few older students hanging out, so naturally, as a First Year, he was stuck with an uncomfortable couch far away from the fireplace.

Snape had snuck out of the dungeons an hour ago, and there was no doubt that he was visiting Lily Evans, a Gryffindor Mudblood— _the worst type of scum_ —who was in Sirius's year. If he had to choose someone to fancy, he definitely wouldn't choose— _an idiot_ —a Gryffindor.

Speaking of Sirius, he had stopped talking to Regulus or Mother or anybody else in the Black family. There was no news of his love life, except for rumors of him and a scrawny, sick boy whose name he couldn't recall always being together.

Just when he had started to pick up his quill again, Rosier slid onto the couch next to Regulus. "Hey, Black," he said, giving Regulus a half-smile that felt like it was melting his heart. It was most likely nothing, but Regulus's mind took note of all the empty chairs next to the couch.

"Hi, Rosier," Regulus managed to say rather awkwardly. He inwardly cursed himself for being— _such a bloody idiot, Regulus, that's who you are._

His mother's lessons echoed around his head even as he tried to shoo them out as quickly as possible.

Rosier started rambling on about a Transfiguration assignment, and Regulus decided that he would rather choose a Slytherin guy.

* * *

 _You're not allowed to love other boys, Regulus, you idiot. Stick to the tradition._

But Regulus couldn't stop himself from staring at Evan whenever he could and wishing for something that could never be. He made excuses whenever he could to even just walk next to Evan, or make small-talk with him. Regulus had been sure that Evan was thoroughly pissed at him, but he never showed it. They had started going on a first-name basis a few months ago.

Regulus had kept his secret for almost three years, even as much as he ached to tell Sirius or anybody, really.

Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder, and he whirled around to find Evan standing behind him. "Hey, Regulus," he said, looking as pretty as he did when Regulus first saw him. "Hogsmeade this weekend. Do you have plans?"

He shook his head and started to stutter. "No, I wasn't really, uh, planning on going, but, uh, if—"

Regulus didn't have a chance to finish his sentence because Evan pulled him close and kissed him in the middle of the empty common room. Regulus's head spun and his thoughts jumbled, but for once he didn't have Mother's voice screaming at him. Evan kissed him and he kissed him and while he was kissing him, Regulus was kissing him back. They broke off slowly, Regulus not wanting the kiss to have ended.

"Took you long enough to notice it," Evan said, staring into Regulus's eyes. He pinched himself, not wanting it to be just another one of his recurrign dreams. But no, he was in reality. What had happened was real. He, Regulus Arcturus Black, a pureblood Slytherin, had kissed Evan Rosier.

"See you this weekend," Evan said, winking at him and walking away.


End file.
